World Cup 2014: Ivory Coast's Serey Die cries over anthem emotion, not father

Ivory Coast midfielder Serey Die said he broke down in tears on Friday morning over the emotion of representing his country at a World Cup as false internet rumours swirled that his father had died before kickoff.

Die was crying as the anthems played before they faced Colombia in Brasilia, with rumours circulating on Twitter that his father, who died in 2004, had passed away two hours before the Group C match, which they lost 2-1.

The public outpouring continued after his mistake led to Colombia's second goal, Die caught in possession by James Rodriguez as Juan Quintero ran clear to put the South Americans 2-0 up in the 70th minute.

A sombre Die, who was replaced three minutes later as Gervinho pulled back what proved to be a consolation goal, said the emotion of the occasion had got to him.

"I was going to play for my country," he said when asked about the tears. "(But) it's true that I thought about my father, who died in 2004," he added.

Colombia's injured forward Radamel Falcao appeared to be one of those to make the mistake of thinking Die's father had passed away just before kick-off.

"A big hug for Serey Die today he was a great example for all of us who love this sport," the striker posted on his Twitter account.

I was going to play for my country. (But) it's true that I thought about my father, who died in 2004.

Serey Die

"Emotional? He is fine, he is fine," Toure told reporters.

"It is normal, we came here and we wanted to do it.

"This World Cup we have a chance to go through, we have a target to go through and we hope we go through."

The Ivory Coast is playing in its third consecutive World Cup and is looking to make the knockout stages for the first time after tricky draws saw it exit at the group stage in Germany 2006 and South Africa four years ago.

Despite the defeat, coach Sabri Lamouchi was proud of his team's efforts which followed the opening 2-1 win over Japan.